In Southwest Scotland one can find the lovely and picturesque county of Dumfries and Galloway. This beautiful area has shaped the minds of the countless poets, artists, and writers that have come out of it and this isn't a surprise to anybody who has laid eyes on this region. The Irish Sea is visible from parts of Dumfries and Galloway as is the Borders and Cumbria County. Cumbria itself boasts what is considered by many to be the most beautiful area in Europe. At any rate, we can all agree that Dumfries and Galloway has no shortage of splendid sites and it is also just a stone's throw from other magnificent visages. It is curious, then, that the town of Lockerbie has been subject to such strife throughout its age. Located just twenty miles from the Border, Lockerbie fits within Dumfries and Galloway nicely and neatly and it has a lovely appearance during any time of year. This makes it all the more bizarre, though, that the town has had such a dark history throughout its existence.
Lockerbie grew up as a herding zone where Scottish shepherds traded sheep and cattle to the Englishmen who lived but a couple miles away. Out of this peaceful and quaint atmosphere arose the modern yet modest town of Lockerbie with a healthy population of about four thousand. The stately beauty and charm of Lockerbie would be forever tarnished, though, on the fateful day of December 21, 1988. It was only a few days before Christmas when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up by a terrorist. The plane went down in flames and landed right in a neighborhood in Lockerbie. Eleven residents of Lockerbie lost their lives as a result of the massive crater that ensued and two hundred and fifty nine passengers died as well in the tragic and senseless attack. The international flight had citizens from twenty one different nations onboard so the loss was felt throughout the entire continent.
In addition to being the home of one of the most gruesome terrorist attacks in history, Lockerbie is also home to a POW camp. The Hallmuir Prisoner of War Camp is a fascinating piece of history, though, and evidence suggests that it wasn't a particularly violent or lethal camp and instead simply a place to house Ukranian rebels in World War II. All the same, it is a bit polarizing to have a Prisoner of War Camp in the same town where a giant crater marks the loss of two hundred and seventy lives.
Even the most innocent and charming things can take on a dark turn when in Lockerbie. An ice skating rink, for instance, would only conjure up the most innocuous and friendly associations but try telling that to the patrons of the Lockerbie Ice Rink. This masterpiece of design is one of the oldest indoor skating rinks in the world and many curling champions have played and practiced within the rink. Unfortunately, the rink is also the site of a horrible death that occurred in January 2009. A woman was putting on an exhibition for an audience when she fell and broke her neck, dying in front of the entire audience. "When in Lockerbie", right?
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